Las Vegas jury delivers $3 billion award in bottled water lawsuit

Published 2:51 pm Monday, June 17, 2024

LAS VEGAS — A jury has awarded $3 billion in punitive damages to eight plaintiffs who sued the Real Water bottled water company, which was tied to an outbreak of liver failures.

Attorney William Kemp, who represented the lead plaintiffs, said the billions in punitive damages represents the most money that has been awarded by a jury in Nevada. The verdict was delivered on Friday, at the end of a two-week trial.

The plaintiffs consisted of five young children and three adults who suffered from liver failure after consuming the product, marketed as alkalized water. Kemp said the children were all flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City for liver transplants, but they all avoided needing a transplant once they stopped drinking the bottled water.

The jury had also awarded the plaintiffs about $98 million in compensatory damages, Kemp said.

It is likely that Real Water’s attorneys will argue for a judge to lower the punitive damages awarded by the jury, and Kemp said he expects the verdict to eventually be cut back.

But he still hopes the high amount will motivate bottled water companies to properly test products in the future. During the trial, an expert with the International Bottled Water Association testified that it is not industry standard to automatically test all new bottled water products, Kemp said.

“I think everyone’s hope here is that there’s going to be some change,” Kemp said.

Friday’s verdict marked the third trial that has resulted in substantial damages against Real Water. In February, a jury awarded about $130 million in damages to five people who sued the company, and a jury in October awarded more than $228 million in total damages in a separate case.

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